For people across Kingston looking for support for themselves or a loved one, choosing the right care provider can be one of the most important decisions a family makes.

M and A Family Care is hoping to offer Kingston residents another option, with a service founded on more than 35 years of combined frontline experience and a belief that care should always be built around dignity, kindness and respect.

"We're not here to be the biggest," the directors say. "We're here to be the one you'd call for your own family."

The care provider has been created from a genuine passion for supporting people in their own homes and communities, with its founders determined to keep the individual at the heart of everything they do.

For the directors, this is not simply about launching another care company. It is about creating the kind of service they believe families in Kingston and the surrounding area should be able to rely upon.

More than 35 years of experience

One of the directors brings more than 15 years of experience as an Adult Nurse, predominantly within acute hospital settings.

During her career, she has worked as a Ward Sister, taking responsibility for staff allocation, patient safety, staff support and appraisal, medication management, wound care and a wide range of clinical responsibilities.

Her experience has also extended beyond the bedside.

In a clinical educator role, she has supported and taught healthcare staff, delivered training, promoted evidence-based practice and encouraged continuous professional development.

Maintaining clinical knowledge, meeting professional standards and ensuring compliance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have been fundamental throughout her career.

Alongside this clinical expertise is the experience of the company's second director, a community lead carer with more than 20 years of experience supporting people in community settings.

Her career has been rooted in the everyday realities of care – helping people with personal care, supporting medication routines, shopping and essential tasks, accompanying individuals into the community and, perhaps most importantly, helping people maintain their independence.

She understands that care is not about taking over someone's life. It is about supporting people to continue living it on their own terms.

For Kingston residents who may need some additional support while continuing to live at home, the company's approach is centred on listening to individual preferences, respecting established routines and encouraging independence wherever possible.

It means recognising that every person receiving care is an individual with their own history, personality, wishes and aspirations.

Care that starts with a conversation

Rather than beginning with a list of services, M and A Family Care says its approach begins by understanding the individual.

"We come to your home or place of choice on your time," the directors explain. "We listen first. What matters to you? What does a good day look like for you? Only then do we talk about care."

It is an approach intended to help families find support that fits around the person rather than expecting the person to fit around the service.

Born from a passion for people

The decision to establish M and A Family Care came from a shared belief that care should never lose its human touch.

The founders say money was not the motivation behind creating the agency. Instead, they wanted to use their combined experience to provide compassionate, dignified and dependable support to people living within the community.

Their philosophy is straightforward: care should be delivered with heart.

For M and A Family Care Ltd, that means seeing the person before seeing the care plan.

It means taking time to listen, respecting people's choices and treating them with dignity. It also means recognising that small acts of kindness can make an enormous difference to someone's day.

That personal approach is something the company hopes to bring to individuals and families across Kingston upon Thames, whether someone requires regular support at home or simply some additional help to maintain their independence.

Quality care starts with quality staff

The company says the same emphasis on people applies to those delivering the care.

M and A Family Care believes compassionate care depends on recruiting the right people – not simply those who can complete a list of tasks, but those who genuinely care about the individuals they support.

Staff undergo thorough pre-employment checks, including DBS checks, competency assessments and appropriate recruitment processes before joining the organisation.

Training and ongoing development are also central to the company's approach.

The directors intend to work alongside their staff rather than simply manage from a distance.

Their combined backgrounds in nursing, clinical education and community care give them experience of both sides of the relationship – understanding what clients and their families need, as well as what carers need in order to provide safe, effective and compassionate support.

As M and A Family Care looks to reach more people in Kingston and the surrounding area, its founders say their ambitions remain deliberately simple: to provide the kind of care they would be happy for their own families to receive.

"We're not here to be the biggest. We're here to be the one you'd call for your own family."